Flowers and Hummingbirds

Things have been going pretty well. I like my new home. The weather is incredible, I can sit outside without being eaten alive by bugs, and I'm able to walk to lots of different kinds of stores.

We've been spending the past few days decorating. My favorite place by far is the patio. I like to sit out there and drink my coffee in the morning. I noticed that one of our neighbors across the courtyard had a hummingbird feeder that was getting lots of activity. I decided lure them over to my side and bought this feeder.

Also in the spirit of attracting hummingbirds, I bought some huge red dahlias to put out there.


Riley is turning into quite the wild patio cat. There are lots of birds out there for her to stalk. She is well-loved by little kids in the hot tub. Every once in awhile I'll see one of them pointing and squealing at her.

It took a couple of days, but I eventually started seeing hummingbirds. I'm still not getting very many, but hopefully more of them start finding it.


Austin started his job this week. The drive isn't bad at all... it usually takes about 10 minutes and there's never much traffic on his route. We're very relieved about that because this area is known for its ridiculous traffic. I dropped him off at work on Wednesday so I could go to the DMV and get a California license. It was pretty much a nightmare. I was there for five hours. My name change plagued me ONCE AGAIN and cost me an extra two hours. They repeatedly thought I hadn't registered my name change with social security even though I had (about 4 years ago). I have the worst trouble with name change issues. I told Austin he'd better hang onto me and never die because I won't change it again under any circumstances. Haha.

My Etsy shop has been doing well. I've been taking lots of new photos and putting things up for sale online. It takes longer to photograph, edit, and list things than it takes to make them. I'm really backed up with a ton of items I've made for shows, but have never photographed. Getting caught up on that has really made a difference.


The post office is only about a mile away, and it's along Austin's route to work. Makes it easy for me to drop of my little jewelry orders. I also found THE BEST nursery right by the post office. My flower and plant addiction shall be well-fueled.

The Big Move

On Monday, June 16, I moved from St. Louis, MO to Mountain View, CA. My husband got a job at Google and will be starting next week. He moved into our new apartment at the end of May, but I decided to stay behind so I could make some extra money, sell the car, and clean our old apartment.

I stayed with my mom in St. Charles for a few weeks. My brother and sister were also staying with her. It was nice to have some togetherness time with my family before I had to leave. I also got to spend some time with this lovely little dog.


My birthday was on the 12th. It was a pretty good one. I always seem to be traveling or working a night shift or something on my birthday. It was nice to have a free day. I went to Cheesecake Factory with my grandparents, mom, and sister for lunch, did a little shopping, and relaxed.


I booked a one-way, nonstop flight to San Francisco with Frontier Airlines. They recently added a very affordable nonstop flight, and they also allowed pets in the cabin. I needed to bring Riley (my huge cat) along with me. I ordered this carrier online since it was designed to go on airlines and had good reviews.

My mom and sister took me to the airport. It was such a help because I was really freaked out about flying with the cat. We said our goodbyes and they watched me go through security. This was the part I'd been dreading the most. I knew I'd have to take the cat out of the carrier, put the carrier through the X-ray machine, and carry the cat in my arms through the metal detector. It went fine, though. I had a little leash and harness for Riley, so I was able to put her on the ground while I put my bags on the conveyor. She was very well-behaved. She practically cuddled against me when I carried her through the metal detector.

The next step was getting the carrier under the seat on the plane. I took it slow and eventually maneuvered the carrier into place. Luckily, the other two people sitting in my row hadn't gotten there yet. It gave me a little more room and time to work with. Here's a photo I took of her carrier (with my hoodie draped over it) safely under the seat.


The flight went very smoothly. Riley was incredibly quiet throughout the four hour flight. I'm not sure if the people sitting around me even knew I had a pet with me.


We landed in San Francisco, and my handsome husband was waiting for me with beautiful flowers.


We traveled to our new apartment in Mountain View. I'm now on my 3rd full day living here. We've been spending lots of time decorating the new apartment, and getting new things to put in the new space. The weather has been phenomenal, so I've been spending a lot more time outside. We have a balcony that's juuuust big enough for two chairs and a small table. It's my favorite part of the place. Riley likes it too. Here she is begging to go outside:


I don't have a job here yet, and quite frankly I'm in no hurry to find one. I worked pretty hard in the few years before this move. I'm looking forward to spending more time working on my little jewelry business and art ventures. I'm sure I'll get stir crazy and start looking for something eventually, though.